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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Medical content, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Memory loss. Discrimination against and supremacist attitudes within an in-universe faction.vulgarboy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Drug use, and Violence
hal00alex's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide and Drug use
Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Confinement, Blood, Alcoholism, Dementia, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder
city_girl_writer's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
looseleafellie's review
I loved the premise of this story, and I’m also a sucker for science fiction mysteries, so this was right up my alley! The hints of how the epidemic of Sleeplessness has changed the way the world works made me feel immersed in the story. It gives the sense of a world slipping toward dystopia, especially with some of the reveals toward the end.
This book was quite slow paced, but I also don’t know if it could have been any other way. I loved that the reader experiences the events on the night of the murder the same way Jamie did, so there’s a sense of solving the mystery along with him when he realizes his perception of what happened might not match with reality. Still, this book took me ages to read — partly because I was busy with college, and then hit a reading slump, but the pacing definitely didn’t help.
The big mystery was of course solved by the end, but a lot was left open about the future of Sleeplessness and Jamie’s health. However, I’m learning that I quite like books that don’t tie everything up neatly — it makes the world feel more expansive and realistic if not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.
CWs: Suicide, Murder, violence, blood, grief, depression, amnesia, self-harm, drug use, incarceration, mental torture.
Spice level: Non-graphic, brief.
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Murder, Violence, and Self harm
Minor: Medical content and Blood
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Blood, Alcohol, Addiction, Confinement, and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
gcreed13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Suicide and Drug use
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The story's compelling and immersive from the beginning and only gets more exciting as the pace slowly picks up. It keeps you guessing till the end, and all the threads pull together into a satisfying conclusion (though I did feel like everything following the climax was a bit too drawn out, making the ending less punchy than it could've been). Jamie's a great, well-rounded protagonist - messy, unreliable, driven; I'm not sure if I'd call him likeable, but he's interesting as hell and I love how his tireless persistence in finding the truth drives the story. Love the worldbuilding, too - not just all the Sleepless stuff, but also the technology like drones or VR, even details like the outrageous price of coffee - the 2040s world of The Sleepless feels like such a seamless, believable extention of our times. I found the exploration of the consequences of Sleeplessness under capitalism - how some people found it desirable not to have more time to learn or pursue hobbies or anything like that, but to *work* - particularly interesting (and painfully realistic).
Also, I wasn't expecting so much casual queer rep, so that was a pleasant surprise, and I really liked Jamie and Veronica's friendship - it's rare to see close, platonic friendships between men and women in fiction like that.
Overall, if you enjoy multilayered, slowly unfolding thriller mysteries with a sci-fi flair, I definitely recommend this book :)
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
Graphic: Grief, Death, Drug use, and Suicide
Moderate: Violence